Robbery in Progress

Twenty-Three

The next day, I had a text from Paul saying he was running late to work. I was hoping and praying that he would be so frazzled when he came that he wouldn't ask me about the day before, but time would tell.

"Gosh." Paul put his stuff on his desk.

"You good?" He nodded, taking a seat in his chair. He went right to work and didn't say a word. It was such a relief. I was terrified of him asking me about yesterday because I couldn't lie. I sucked at lying and Paul could always tell when I wasn't telling him the truth or leaving something out.

"Well, what did you do after work yesterday?" I could just not tell him, right? That's not lying if I leave something out of our conversation.

"I went home honestly."

"No John?"

"Well, I took care of that phone call."

"How'd that go?"

"Miserably, but I don't want to get into it." Paul gave me a look like I better tell him or he won't stop bugging me about it. "Derek was flat-out rude to me during our conversation. He was refused to meet me to talk, too."

"Well, he doesn't deserve you anyway, Jen." He paused for a minute and I was beginning to think he wouldn't ask me for any more details, but I was wrong. "Did you talk to John?"

"Yeah, I did. He called me while I was on the phone with Derek."

"And?"

I told him I had just talked to Derek and how everything went. John is very understanding."

"I'm glad. Did you two talk about anything else? I'm sure he was dying to see you." I rolled my eyes.

"He asked me if I wanted to watch a movie with him. I declined."

"Did the whole conversation with Derek have you down? You know you shouldn't let him get to you like that. He's not worth your time." I nodded, knowing Paul was right.

"I felt bad when I got home and couldn't sleep so I called him. I invited him over to watch the movie."

"How'd that go?"

"Good." Paul rose from his desk and picked his chair up, placing it on the floor right beside me.

"What happ..." I stopped him before he could finish.

"Paul, please don't." Tears began to form in my eyes, and I could see the compassion on Paul's face.

"Did John do something?"

"No, John didn't do anything. Everything's great between the two of us." I turned my head, trying to avoid any more questions. Paul placed a hand on my leg.

"Jen, look at me." I didn't turn immediately, and he pleaded again. "Please, Jen."

"What?" I wiped the tear from my eye and sniffed, trying to avoid anyone else noticing me about to break down. "I don't want to talk about this."

"Tell me what you two talked about then." I paused and took in a deep breath.

"John and I...we just talked about past relationships."

"So, you guys opened up to each other? That's good." I made a fake smile. "Something has upset you. What is it, Jen? You know you can tell me anything."

"Not this." I always told Paul everything, whether I liked it or not. I just knew this would not end well if he found out what Derek had said to me. I had kept it a secret from him this long and I wanted to do what I could to keep him from ever finding out, but the pressure was killing me.

"What happened? You said nothing happened with John. Was it, Derek?" I nodded.

"John asked me about what happened between Derek and me."

"I thought you already told him during your date when Derek ended up being your waiter."

"I did. John said he figured I would have pushed that whole situation to the side, but I hadn't." Paul looked confused. "John said something must have been said to hurt me or else I would have let it go by now."

"And what did you tell him?" I paused, wiping tears from my eyes. "Jen, are you okay? Do you want to go outside and talk about this?" I nodded. The farther from people I was, the better. The last thing I wanted was for others to see me break down. It was bad enough Paul was seeing me like this. When we got outside, I leaned against the building. Paul stood in front of me.

"You can't freak out when I tell you this, Paul." I wiped the tears again. He nodded. "The biggest reason I could never completely forgive Derek is because of something he said." I took in a deep breath. "He said I was being ridiculous and then proceeded to tell me that was why my last boyfriend cheated on me." Paul's face turned red with anger.

"When did he say this? Was this during your conversation yesterday?" I shook my head no. "Jen, when was this?" I knew this was about to get worse.

"He said this during our big fight when we broke up."

"Jen, are you kidding me? Why didn't you tell me this before now?"

"I didn't want to tell you because I knew you'd react like this." Paul started to walk around but I grabbed his arm before he could. "Paul, don't." I knew he was about to leave, and I was afraid of what he might do.

"Jen, I'm taking care of this. Please don't try and stop me. It'll be no use."

Paul pulled away and got in his car. I followed behind him, but he was driving like a maniac. When he parked, my heart dropped. I got out of my car, following behind Paul, but I was not near as fast as him.

"Paul, stop!" I yelled at him, but it was no use. I spotted Derek outside the door, leaning against the wall. "Derek!" Just at that moment, Paul shoved Derek.

"What the heck do you think you're doing?"

"Me? What about you? You hurt my friend."

"Who? Jen? I apologized for that."

"What gives you the right to accuse her of being the reason her last boyfriend cheated? There's no excuse for that."

"Dude, relax." Derek lightly pushed Paul back and I knew it was a mistake.

"Paul, let's just go, okay?" Despite my efforts, Paul ignored me and let out a punch. Derek fought back and I knew I had to do something before someone seriously got hurt. I jumped in front of them, the adrenaline hitting me all at once, and that was the last thing I remembered.

A/N: Driving to work this morning, I had the idea for this chapter pop into my head. I hope you all like it! I have worked extra hard on this chapter. Please read, vote, and comment! I want to hear your reactions!